Russian Bombardier worker charged with aggravated bribery

A Russian employee in the Swedish branch of Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier was charged Friday with aggravated bribery and faces up to six years in jail and deportation if found guilty.

Swedish prosecutor Thomas Forsberg said Evgeny Pavlov bribed a public servant in Azerbaijan to win a contract for a new signaling system with a contract value of around $340 million.

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Pavlov, a Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB employee, was held in March in pre-trial custody to prevent him from fleeing or tampering with evidence. Emails seized during a search of Bombardier's offices in Sweden in October 2016 are considered evidence in the case.

Forsberg told The Associated Press the Azerbaijani officials received rewards for having favored the Bombardier contract.

He added more employees with the Swedish branch of Bombardier were still being investigated in relation to the same case.

In 2013, Bombardier was part of a consortium awarded a $288 million contract to supply signaling equipment for a 503-kilometer (312-mile) track along a corridor connecting Asia and Europe to Azerbaijan Railways. Bombardier then said it was its "first major signaling contract in Azerbaijan."

His lawyer, Cristina Berger, has previously said that her client says he is innocent.